Goodbye?
by nomorehappykitty
Summary: Sakura has stopped talking to Sasori. She thinks he doesn't love her, so she avoids him to keep from getting hurt. Sasori doesn't know this, and he wants to get the pinkette back. Will she forgive him or will it be goodbye forever? English Project sequel.(Rated T in case of swearing)
1. Chapter 1

Kitty-chan: Hi, how are ya? I know you guys are probably tired of me by now, but here's the revised version of _Goodbye_. I hope you guys like the new version so much better (I have no idea how you guys liked the older version—it was awful). But anyway. Like _English Project_ I'm not really changing up the plot, I'm just strengthening weak areas, fixing plot-holes, and correcting jacked up grammar. Enjoy.

Itachi: Kitty-chan does not own _Naruto._

* * *

><p>Chapter 1<p>

Sakura didn't go to school the next day.

And that day Sasori went straight to his English teacher, turned in their accursed project, and left.

He went to Sakura's house. He sat down with his back against her door and knocked every few hours. Every time he knocked, he waited to see if she would open the door. But she never did.

Once darkness took over the sky he went home and worked on his puppets.

The next day was the same as was the day after that. It _could_ qualify as stalking. But Sasori didn't care. He waited anyway.

On the fourth day, she answered.

Well, technically it wouldn't qualify as answering since she brushed past him without even a glance in his direction, but she opened the door with her backpack shouldered and walked to her bus stop.

"Sakura . . ." Sasori managed to choke out, but she ignored him and continued walking.

Sasori sighed, mounted his bike, and went to school with a heavy heart.

~(^-^)~

Sakura didn't go to the tree that morning. She didn't talk to or even acknowledge anyone during her classes. She didn't even read. She took care to look take notes and look like she was paying close attention to the teacher like she usually did.

She sat in a desk away from the rest of the class. Her eyes were still swollen from several sleepless nights of crying, and she was exhausted after to pulling an all-nighter to get all of her make-up work done. She was in some desperate need of sleep.

When the bell rang, she hurried out of the classroom, trying to avoid Sasori because she knew he would try to talk to her. She didn't want to talk. She knew what he would say.

No one bothered her in the halls anymore. She had claimed a spot with the Akatsuki and had grown a backbone now. Not only that, but a dangerous aura surrounded her as she walked through the halls—not caring if she ran into anyone—and her tired appearance gave her a threatening look.

"Sakura!" she heard, feeling a hand grab her by the shoulder. It was Sasori of course. She whirled around quickly and glared tiredly at him.

"What, Akasuna?" she snapped viciously, her eyes were dull. Lifeless. They didn't even hold the anger she was showing. Sasori knew he had messed up big time to make her feel this way—but was what he had done really so bad? He couldn't understand why she would still be this upset over a kiss.

Sakura glanced around. It was pretty much just them in the hall.

"I want to talk to you," Sasori answered, trying his best not to look hurt at her retort.

"There's nothing to talk about," she huffed and tried to turn around, but he held on to her shoulder. He wouldn't let her leave until he talked to her.

"_Yes,_ there is," he disagreed.

"What then? What is there to talk about?" she questioned, her voice laced with venom.

"About what I did that night," he mumbled and looked down, too ashamed to say it.

"What did you do, Akasuna? You didn't do anything," Sakura snapped, proving to him that he was too scared to voice his fault. Sasori stayed quiet, too uncomfortable to talk about it.

"If that's all you have to say," Sakura jerked her shoulder out of his grip and stormed off.

When she entered the classroom the quiet murmuring stopped. Konan glanced up at her and noticed how she still had a hollow and tired expression. Instead of sitting by them like she hoped the pinkette would, Sakura sat in an available seat near the front of the room.

"She's getting worse," Konan whispered to Deidara.

"What do you think he did to her, hmm?" the blond asked.

"I don't know, but if he doesn't make up with her soon, I'm going to beat the answer out of him," the blue haired girl grumbled.

She had never been this angry toward Sasori; he was one of the more sane guys in their small group of friends, and she felt that she could relate to him sometimes. Right now, though, he was starting to get on her last nerve.

~(^-^)~

Sasori made his way stealthily up to the roof. He hadn't been there in a while; he'd just been too busy to really go up there anymore. He kind of missed the place.

He lay down in the center of the roof and watched the sky. The redhead would never admit it, but he missed Sakura. It had only been a few days that he hadn't seen her, but he still missed her all the same.

He was disappointed in himself, too. He was disappointed that he couldn't admit his fault—that he couldn't apologize. He couldn't believe that he had hurt her so much.

~(^-^)~

Sakura fell asleep in her last class—glad to get a little rest before going home and then eventually going to work. She had taken the past few days off, and knew that she would eventually have to go back or she would get fired.

The pinkette was not looking forward to this day at work, and she could feel that it was going to be a bad day as she dozed off.

_I'm so tired . . ._ she thought to herself.

_**Well, no shit. You haven't slept in forever, and it's making me crankier than usual,**_ Inner snapped.

_I can tell,_ Sakura grumbled.

_**You should just make up with Sasori. He realizes that what he did was wrong. He was even trying to apologize earlier,**_ the voice muttered.

_He doesn't realize that he's done something wrong. . . He wouldn't even admit when I asked. He just stood there gaping like a fish out of water._

_**Well, you're going to have to forgive him sometime. I'm getting tired of you moping around like you just lost your best frie-**_

_I _did_ just lose my best friend._

_**It's not the end of the world. So quit whining.**_

"_Sakura,"_ a voice snapped, pulling Sakura out of her sleep/talk with Inner.

Said pinkette bolted upright in her chair and looked around. It was Konan who had woken her, and one quick glance around the classroom told her that everyone else had left.

"Class is over," the blue haired girl murmured. Sakura nodded, grabbed her things, and started to leave.

"You know the offer still stands," Konan added.

Sakura looked back as if questioning what Konan was talking about.

"You can still call me whenever if there is something you want to talk about," she explained. The pinkette nodded and left the classroom. She didn't plan on calling Konan, and even if she did, she wouldn't even mention what happened between her and Sasori.

The bus ride home seemed to take longer than usual. It hadn't seemed to take so long that morning, but on the other hand, she was so tired that she didn't realize what she was doing until she was at school and in class.

She went through the monotonous task of getting ready for work and heading to her workplace.

At the restaurant, she tried her best to keep a happy face, but no matter how hard she tried, her smile never stayed. After the manager talked to her—trying to cheer her up—she went on autopilot; she shut down and let her body go through the motions until finally she was home and the hot water from her shower brought her back to life.

The hot water felt nice on her cold skin, but she didn't stay long. She bathed, got out and got dressed. And once she had gotten dressed, she lay down to take a nap before starting on her homework. It was already ten 'o'clock anyway, and she needed the rest.

Not surprisingly, she couldn't go to sleep, so she did her homework. The dull work soon lulled her to sleep and she was dozing off on her desk.

_Sakura knew it was a dream because she had had several of these dreams. These dreams where she had traveled back in time and had taken Envy's place._

_She was sitting on the porch next to Nathanial, except something was different about him. He was quieter than usual, working on a little puppet that looked vaguely like herself._

_"__What are you doing?" she asked, though her voice sounded muffled and Nathanial didn't hear her. She tried repeating the words, though this time no sound came out of her mouth at all._

_Nathanial looked up this time, but instead of the gentle smiles and loving look she always dreamed he had in his eyes, his eyes were filled with hatred and a frown was plastered on his lips. Then, a vicious smile spread across his lips, taking the place of the frown, and a wicked glint flashed in his eyes._

_"__They say curiosity killed the cat, dearest Envy. Of course, we know that now, don't we?" he chuckled darkly, his voice was raspy as if he had a bad cold._

_She finally noticed the dark bruises covering his neck. The dark circles under his eyes as if he had missed countless nights of sleep. She noticed his broken fingers, begging the little puppet in his hand to do his bidding. She noticed a weight in her arms and nearly screamed at what she saw._

_A babe with messy red locks rested in her arms. His skin was blue and lips purple as if he was really cold. The little child looked up at her with bloodshot, green eyes and made a gurgling, choking noise that seems to come from the back of his throat. The baby had been drowned._

_It smiled up at her sweetly and made the disturbing gurgling sound again. It lifted up a small, pudgy hand and stroked her chest, and a pain shot through to her heart. She almost drop the baby as she doubled over at the searing discomfort and looked down at her chest._

_There was dried blood all over the front of her tunic. She took one hand from the babe, lifted back her tunic just a little, and gaped at the deep hole that was in the middle of her chest right next to where her heart should be._

_She had been shot._

_He had been hanged._

_The babe had been drowned._

_They all died in painful ways, making sure they atoned for their sins._

_Instead of crying like she wanted to, Sakura continued in saying, "Yes, I guess so. . . Do you regret it?"_

_"__Almost every bit," Nathanial answered coldly, not looking away._

_"__I see," Sakura murmured, looking down at the babe. "I guess that means you no longer love me? I did get you killed after all; it would only be fair."_

" _.__ . . Love isn't like a fairy tale, Envy. There is no such thing as happily ever after."_

Sakura bolted upright, her breathing ragged and tears streaming from her eyes. She hunched over her desk and sobbed into her hands. Nathanial's last words were still ringing in her head, and she tried to shake them away, to pull herself together, but it wasn't working.

She decided to call. She didn't know what time it was, but she didn't care. _She_ had said to call any time anyways. Sakura picked up her phone and dialed the number shakily. After about the fourth ring, Sakura almost gave up and hung up, but the other line picked up.

"Hello?" the person answered groggily.

"Konan . . . I want to talk . . ." Sakura answered shakily.

* * *

><p>Kitty-chan: Is it still good? Bad? Should I find another hobby? Review guys! I swear I will love you forever!<p>

Sakura: No she won't

Kitty-chan: Well, maybe not love, but the reviews will make me so happy n stuff ^-^


	2. Chapter 2

Kitty-chan: Here's the second chapter, guys. I hope you like it..

Konan: Kitty-chan does not own _Naruto._

* * *

><p>Chapter 2<p>

Sakura felt better after telling Konan everything. It was a relief to let out everything she had bottled up inside. Although, it was a challenge to convince the blue-haired girl to not go and beat the living daylights out of Sasori.

"Please don't be mad at him . . ." the pinkette whispered to her; she was already snuggling deep under her covers, her eyes drooping lazily.

"Why? You seem perfectly content at being mad at him," Konan questioned. She wasn't as angry as she was before, but she was still pretty mad.

"Don't worry about it, Konan . . ." Sakura murmured, she let out a soft yawn, drifting off to sleep. Both girls were only quiet for a second, but Sakura was already fading into slumber. " 'Night, Konan-chan . . ." she added, finally surrendering to sleep.

"Goodnight, Sakura," Konan murmured with a soft smile, knowing her friend had already fallen asleep. She hung up and stared at her phone for a few minutes longer before sighing and dialing another number. She knew he would be up. He was always up.

"Hello?" he answered after the second ring.

"Did I wake you?" she asked, knowing she hadn't but wanting to be polite.

"No—you know that," he responded in a bored tone. "Now what do you need? You're never up this late, so if you're calling that must mean you want something," he declared.

"I won't tell you until you promise to do it," she replied sweetly.

_Damn that kid for knowing that I want something!_ she thought to herself.

"Fine," the male sighed.

"You have to apologize to her," she commanded, and before he could object she hung up the phone and shut it off, knowing no one else was going to call her until morning. Sakura was asleep, Pein was still grounded from his phone until further notice, and the other guys never bothered to call her. She smiled with evil delight before lying down and drifting off to sleep.

~(^-^)~

Sasori sat staring at his phone. He didn't bother to call back—she would have her phone off, he knew—but he didn't know what else to do. He had been putting the finishing touches on his new creation when she called, and for her to throw that in his face was surprising, especially that early in the morning. It was—what? 3:30?

He sighed tiredly and turned back to the small puppet that resembled his pink haired friend. He didn't know what had compelled him to make the marionette in her likeness, but he did. As he was making it, he had the desire to give it to her as a gift, but with her newfound hatred toward him, he didn't know what kept him from throwing the small toy into the trash. After finishing up by tying a delicate red bow in the toy's hair, he sighed and dropped the doll in a box full of finished creations that would never leave the room much less leave the house.

"How am I supposed to apologize to her if she won't even stop to talk to me?" he questioned aloud, recalling the times she had bolted out of the classroom just to avoid him. And she didn't really react all to well when he tried to apologize the first time.

He didn't even know why she was so upset to begin with. Probably because he never actually took the time to sit down and think about it, but he didn't really think he did anything that would make her hate him this badly.

Sasori sat back in his chair, thinking back on that day. The day he had pretty much ruined their friendship. He felt something tighten in his chest when he thought about how crushed she had looked when he had said those awful things to her. He had only wanted to prove to her that he was not like his look-alike. Sasori was different than him, and he wanted more of a realistic relationship with the pinkette than the cheesy fantasy one that she had made up.

Sasori was getting depressed thinking about that night. He thought about how happy Sakura had been before they finished that project, before things started changing—before she got her new and stressful job, and before he started taking on more time consuming and frustrating orders. He remembered how they used to joke about everything, how her whole face would light up when she smiled, and how cute she would look when she blushed when she was embarrassed.

Those happy images started changing into the more angry ones. The ones where her expressions started darkening, where the bright glow in her eyes was slowly but surely fading. She had become unhappy, and it was all his fault.

Konan had said to apologize, but how? He wasn't entirely sure that he did anything wrong. All he knew was that the kiss was their breaking point.

He was pretty sure that that had been her first kiss. It was a boundary he shouldn't have crossed. The thing was, it was _his_ first kiss too. It was an embarrassing truth that he would take to his grave.

Sasori shook his head; he was getting off track.

When he thought about it though, he didn't want anyone else to kiss Sakura. A fierce hatred toward anyone who dared to try boiled up in his chest until it almost hurt to breathe. He tried to calm himself down, removing those thoughts from his mind until he was stable again.

He had to get back on track. He had to think of a way to apologize—to fix things.

But he wasn't sure how to apologize. He could try, but he felt he'd probably just make things worse. It was starting to frustrate him.

_I need to go to bed before I break something,_ he thought irritably to himself before crossing the hall to his room and going to bed.

_I'll think of a good apology later, _he added before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

><p>Kitty-chan: It was still short and stuff, but hey I'm working on it. Anyway, just review and stuffs. You guys are awesome for sticking it out this long.<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

Kitty-chan: Hey, here's the new chapter. Thank you guys who stayed this long. You make me so happy, and if there's something you don't like about the story, please don't hesitate to tell me. So . . . Yeah. Disclaimer please.

Zetsu: Kitty-chan does not own Naruto

* * *

><p>Chapter 3<p>

Sakura awoke feeling well rested. She smiled softly, snuggling deeper into her quilt. Everything was peaceful and quiet. A little too quiet. She cringed, squeezing her eyes shut before glancing at the clock. 10:52

She bolted out of bed, stumbling to her closet.

_Oh, my gosh! I'm so late! _she cried out.

_**Way to ruin the morning,**_ Inner grumbled, waking up slowly.

_Shut up! I've never been _this_ late before! Ugh! What will my sensei think?_ she shouted.

She didn't bother putting on nice clothes, didn't bother with how her hair looked. She shoved on a pair of cargo pants, a t-shirt that was lying on top of her dresser, and rushed to the bathroom to make sure she smelled fresh and her teeth were clean. She bolted downstairs, put on a pair of tennis shoes, grabbed her backpack, and ran out the door without any breakfast.

Running to school sucked. She may have been a good runner, but she hated having to run to school. It always left her looking like a mess, and with her already shabby appearance, she didn't want to look any worse than usual.

Sakura slowed down once the school was in her sight. She stopped to straighten her outfit and make sure she wasn't all sweaty—she was, but she kept deodorant and a brush in her bag just for these occasions. After brushing her hair and making sure she looked presentable, she sped up her walk to the school.

It didn't take her much longer to enter the school, grab a check-in slip, and hurry to her third block class—she had already missed the other two. She knocked on the door and waited a few seconds longer until the teacher finally opened the door.

"Good morning, Miss Haruno. I'm glad you finally made it," the teacher griped sarcastically.

"Sorry . . . I woke up late," the pinkette mumbled, looking down at her feet in embarrassment. The teacher nodded, stepping aside and allowing the pinkette to enter the room.

Sakura walked to the back of the class and seated herself next to Konan. She felt a little more comfortable around the blue haired girl ever since their talk the previous night.

"Are you okay?" Konan asked her, giving her a worried glance. Sakura nodded.

"I just slept in. My alarm clock didn't go off," the pinkette answered quietly, giving her friend a small smile.

"Okay," the blue haired girl answered a little hesitantly before returning her attention to the teacher. Sakura looked around, noticing that Deidara, Tobi, and Sasori were missing.

"Where are the guys?" Sakura asked. Konan shrugged.

"I don't know. They haven't even showed up at school today . . . which kind of has me worried," her friend answered with a nervous chuckle.

"Konan. Haruno. Quiet down back there," the teacher snapped.

"Yes, Ebizou-sensei," they answered in unison.

~(^-^)~

Sasori was lying in bed, too tired to go to school, and too confused to really face Sakura. After Konan's call, he had sat up nearly the whole the night before thinking about what he needed to say to the pinkette. By the time morning rolled around and he had started to get ready for school, he still had no clue of what he should say. In desperation, he called the guys over.

He could never talk to Konan about this; there was no telling what she would go telling Sakura. And while he still couldn't trust the guys as well, he called them anyways. They weren't as close to Sakura as Konan.

A knock sounded on the door, only to be opened seconds later.

"Sasori, hmm!" Deidara called, followed by calls from his other friends.

"Deidara-senpai, do you think he's really here? What if it was a trick?" Tobi whined. "I wanna go back to school and see Sakura-chan. She's nice and pretty, and Sasori-senpai is mean," the boy added childishly, a squeal following his complaint.

"Quiet, Tobi. I'm sure Sasori-san is here," another voice assured in a bored tone. Itachi.

Sasori sighed, got up out of his bed and headed to the kitchen where he knew his company was waiting. He was still in his pajamas, and he looked like he had just rolled out of bed. The others couldn't help but to stare at him in shock.

"Whoa, Sasori. You look rough, hmm," Deidara commented after taking in Sasori's messier than usual red hair, the dark circles under his eyes, and rumpled pajamas.

Said redhead shot a glare at his blond friend and headed over to his coffee maker to fix himself a cup.

"Shut up, Deidara. Not all of us are worried about looking _pretty_," he grumbled.

"He got you pansy-ass," Hidan guffawed, slapping the blond on the back. Deidara scowled, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Don't worry, Deidara-senpai; they're just jealous," Tobi tried to cheer up the blond.

"Shut up, Tobi, hmm," Deidara yelled and hit the dark-haired boy on the head.

"Ouch!" Tobi cried, running to cower behind Itachi.

Deidara, Tobi, Hidan, and Itachi crowded the kitchen, waiting for Sasori. The redhead looked at each one carefully behind the rim of his coffee mug.

Deidara and Tobi were there because they were Sasori's best friends; Itachi because he was older and probably had more experience with girls; and Hidan because Pein had assigned the cursing trouble-maker to Itachi—Kakuzu had refused—so as to keep him from him from getting into too much trouble.

So besides Hidan, these were the best confidants Sasori could manage to get without turning to Konan or Pein—the latter was currently in too much trouble to be bothered.

"So what have we been called here for?" Itachi finally asked in order to grab Sasori's attention.

The redhead looked down his feet, took a sip of his coffee, looked at Itachi and then back down at his feet again.

"I need some advice," he muttered.

Three gawked with raised brows; one stared with curiosity and slight amusement. They couldn't believe that the stubborn redhead would actually ask for advice on anything.

"On what, hmm?" Deidara finally asked, breaking the group of their shocked trance.

" . . . Sakura . . ." he mumbled hesitantly.

Hidan and Deidara could barely contain their laughter, and Tobi was just plain confused. But Itachi gave the redhead a thoughtful look.

Sasori glared at Hidan and Deidara—both of them were still laughing at their now fully embarrassed friend.

"What about Sakura do you need advice on?" Itachi asked, sighing at his other friends' discomforting behavior.

"Well . . . She's kind of mad at me because I did something horrible . . . but I don't see how it's that bad," Sasori explained, scratching the back of his head.

"What do you mean _mad_? Sakura is _pissed_ at you, hmm," Deidara declared. "What _did_ you do?" he asked.

Sasori hesitated. He was starting to regret inviting all of them over instead of just Itachi.

"Hurry up and tell us how you fucked up," Hidan snapped impatiently.

" . . .We were having an argument. She started talking about your damn brother, Itachi," Sasori started with a scowl. "I told her that she was stupid for liking someone who was a accomplice in her attack a little over a month ago, and that I didn't really care about who she had a crush on. She got really upset and started yelling. She kept coming up with all these . . . scenarios about this stupid project we were working on . . . She kept talking about how much better it would be if I were more like the guy we were researching . . . That's when I kissed her . . . I told her she was stupid for wanting me to be like someone so pigheaded . . . I was trying to prove a point, but . . . but she started crying . . ." Sasori explained quietly.

They were silent as he told them everything about what happened that night. Once he had finished, he refused to look up at the others. It was so embarrassing to be talking about this. Maybe he shouldn't hav—

"Aw, Puppet Boy got his first fucking kiss," Hidan sniggered, breaking the silence.

"_Hidan_," Itachi snapped before turning to Deidara and Tobi and saying, "You two take Hidan and go get us something to eat. I'm starving."

He handed Deidara the money and the three left without a word—in respect to their redheaded friend who most likely wanted to be alone after making such a confession.

"What happened _exactly_ after you kissed her? What kind of reaction did she have?" Itachi questioned once the others were gone.

"I told you—she started crying . . . Well, not in front of me. She called me a jerk, ran inside, and _then_ started crying," he answered quietly. His coffee didn't taste good anymore.

He poured the dark liquid down the drain and looked back up at Itachi.

"I don't know what to say to her," he confessed. "I mean, no matter how many times I think over it, I can't come up with anything to say to make her forgive me."

"All you can think about is how much you hurt her?" the Uchiha questioned—but it wasn't really a question, it was more of a statement.

"How do you know?" Sasori mumbled. Itachi almost smiled.

"Because—believe it or not—I've been in the same situation," he answered truthfully. "The difference is that I never fixed it. We may still be friends, but . . . we could've been more if I hadn't screwed up. Don't you remember?"

"Konan?" Sasori questioned. Those details were kind of hazy. Sasori had joined Akatsuki toward the end of that argument, when it was almost over and everything was going back to normal.

Itachi nodded.

"I felt bad when we first started fighting, but then eventually, I apologized. I didn't know what I was apologizing for, so it didn't really do any good, at least not the way I intended it to. We became friends again in the end, and she started dating Pein. I found out that while I was trying to figure out what I did wrong, he was comforting her, when I should have been. I was too late in the end and lost the girl I loved. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for her and Pein, but sometimes I can't help thinking what it would've been like if I had been there for her," Itachi admitted and flashed a small, bittersweet smile.

Sasori was amazed at how much emotion the usually stoic Uchiha was showing.

"So is my situation like yours?" Sasori asked.

"Yeah . . . You could say that," Itachi answered, the emotionless mask returning to its proper place. The two were quiet for a while as Itachi tried to piece together his questions and explanations in a way that the Sasori would understand.

"How do you feel about Sakura?" he asked. The redhead shrugged.

"I don't know . . . I'm not sure how to explain it," the redhead answered.

"_Try_," Itachi demanded.

"Well . . . I feel different when I'm around her . . . I feel lighter—like I can truly be myself when I'm around her . . . It makes me happy when she's happy, and I feel terrible when she's upset . . . My chest hurts when I'm around her—sometimes it's a good hurt, sometimes . . . it's a bad hurt . . . Sometimes when she smiles, I don't know what to say, and when she cries, all I want to do is hold her and make her feel better. . . If I say that I feel awful for upsetting her like that, it is a major understatement. I just . . . I don't know what to do," Sasori answered, stumbling through the explanation as best he could. When he finished he looked up at Itachi with a sudden realization.

"I think . . . I'm in love with Sakura."

* * *

><p>Kitty-chan: And there's the chapter. Thanks for sticking with me this far, guys. I didn't realize how crappy the original chapters were until I finally reread them.<p>

Sakura: You failed.

Kitty-chan: I know . . . Anyways review guys! The more reviews means the happier I am.

Sasori: Conceited much?

Kitty-chan: Shut up!


	4. Chapter 4

Kitty-chan: Hiya! Here's the next chapter. I'm almost finished, and I'm super excited about that. This is the longest story I've ever actually written and completed, and I almost regret rewriting it. But for my lovely reviewers and followers, it is completely worth it. Thanks for reading this far. Hope you like it. Take it away, Leader-sama!

Pein: Kitty-chan does not own Naruto.

* * *

><p>Chapter 4<p>

"Are you sure? . . . Okay. I'll get it," Konan sighed and snapped her cellphone shut.

"Who was that?" Sakura asked. Konan had invited her over to her house after school, and the two were hanging out in the blue haired girl's room watching TV, talking, and eating random sweets.

"It was Hidan," she answered. "He wanted me to bring him a movie tomorrow when we go to school."

The lie was flawless, so of course it worked.

"Oh, okay," Sakura shrugged, gulping down another spoonful of ice cream. She glanced at the TV one last time before turning to Konan who seemed completely engrossed in the show.

"Hey, Konan, can I ask you something?" Sakura asked her.

"Shoot," the blue haired girl replied, stealing the spoon from Sakura and scooping out a bite of the delicious frozen treat for herself.

"What do you think I should do about Sasori?" the pinkette asked quietly, her cheeks burning a nice shade of pale pink.

"That depends."

"On what?"

"On how you feel about him, what you think about him, and so on."

"Oh."

_**Are we really going to get into one of these 'Girl Talk' conversations?**_ Inner groaned. Sakura ignored the voice.

"What _do_ you think about Sasori?" Konan pressed gently, watching as the slight pink of Sakura's cheeks darkened if only slightly.

"W-well . . . He's really nice when he wants to be . . . And when he's not being a jerk, he's really sweet," Sakura smiled softly. "He can be overconfident sometimes, but no matter what happens, he always stands back up. He's very stubborn, but he's passionate about what he does," she added. More and more things came to mind as she thought about the redhead, but she stopped in fear of boring Konan to death.

"And what do you feel about him, or when you're around him?" her blue haired companion asked, digging out another bite of ice cream.

"I-I don't know . . . I feel . . . Stronger I guess. I'm not as shy anymore when he's around, and I . . . I feel like I can be myself. . . He can make me feel so happy but so mad all at the same time . . . but in the end, he makes me laugh, and I'm happy again," she answered, her cheeks darkening with each word that managed to wriggle its way out.

"Aw . . ." Konan cooed. "Do you like him? I bet you _love_ him," she teased, poking the pinkette in the arm with the spoon. She was starting to become impatient; she wanted the pinkette to hurry up and confess.

"I-I d-don't know. . . M-maybe?" Sakura answered. Her heart went into overdrive and her face turned into a shade of red that would put Sasori's hair to shame.

_Is that really true? Do I love Sasori?_ she questioned herself.

_**Duh! I've been trying to tell you that for weeks!**_ Inner snapped.

_Well, if you didn't joke around so much, I might have believed you for once,_ Sakura grumbled.

"Are you ever going to tell him?" Konan asked, breaking Sakura from her inner conversation.

"Wh-what?" Sakura stuttered.

"I mean, I bet if you told him, he would understand why you were so upset. And who knows, maybe he likes you too," she shrugged.

"I couldn't do that," Sakura answered quickly, her cheeks were on fire.

"Why not?" Konan questioned.

"Because there's always that chance he doesn't like me," she answered, looking away from her blue-haired friend. Konan watched her slowly deflate at this thought.

"Sakura . . ." she tried for her attention. The pinkette didn't move.

"Sakura," Konan tried again but firmer this time. Sakura flinched slightly and looked up at her friend.

"Quit being such a baby," Konan teased, ruffling the pinkette's hair. Sakura smiled up at her.

"Thanks, Konan," she replied, and then with a glance at the clock, she jumped up.

"I've got to go or I'll be late for my shift," she explained running out of the room. Only seconds later, and she could hear the front door bang shut.

Konan let out a quiet chuckle, shaking her head slightly. When she was certain that Sakura was gone, she pulled out her cell phone, punched in the correct numbers, and waited for the other line to pick up.

"She confessed,_"_ she stated as soon as the dial tone stopped. She didn't wait for a reply; she hung up the phone and continued with the rest of the plan. They couldn't just let Sakura and Sasori fall apart.

* * *

><p>Kitty-chan: Woo-hoo! Only one more chapter to go. You guys better love me because these chapters took me forever to not procrastinate on. Anyways, guys, review! I loves reviews! . . . I think that's it . . .<p>

Sakura: Weren't you going to tell them about your hiatus?

Kitty-chan: Oh, yeah! While I was working on editing this story between working on my summer reading, I also got started on another story. It seems like a good one, but I'm still not sure about the pairing. Anyway, if you really like my stories, then the first chapter should be up as soon as I've finished the finally chapter, and if not, then I'll be on hiatus until I feel like it's good enough for posting. Other than that, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Please review.


	5. Chapter 5

Kitty-chan: Final chapter you guys! This is so exciting ^_^

Sakura: You are so easily amused.

Kitty-chan: Shut up! Actually I'm kind of sad because this is the last chapter. It was just as fun rewriting it as it was writing it. I hope you guys had as much fun reading it as I had writing. I think I'll do the disclaimer this time: I DOES NOT OWN NARUTO! Thank you. ^_^

* * *

><p>Chapter 5<p>

Sakura was not excited about going to school. After talking with Konan, she wasn't so sure about how she would act around Sasori anymore—_especially_ after discovering her feelings for him.

_**Why don't you just confess and get this out of the way?**_ Inner complained. _**Then we can all live happily forever after.**_

_I wish it was that simple, Inner,_ Sakura sighed.

Sasori was feeling no different. As he got ready for school, he actually _worried _about what he should wear and what he would say around Sakura.

After exhausting himself over things he realized shouldn't be important, he poured himself a cup of coffee and sank into one of the chairs at his kitchen table.

_I'm such an idiot . . ._ he grumbled to himself. _How am I going to tell her? _he questioned. _Asking Itachi was no help. All he said was that it would come to me when I'm ready. What the hell is _that_ supposed to mean?_

Sasori sighed, downed his coffee and went to the bathroom to brush his teeth. His bathroom suddenly felt so small without Sakura pushing him to the side to make room at the sink. His house suddenly felt so small without Sakura rushing through the halls in a hurry to get ready.

Sasori rushed to school. It wasn't a long ride to begin with, and he still had plenty of time before the first bell, but he believed that the faster he told Sakura about how he felt, the faster his feelings of loneliness would fade. Instead of going to the tree he and Sakura used to sit in, he sought out his friends. He needed all the help he could get.

As soon as Sakura had made it to school, she decided to look for Konan, hoping that the blue-haired girl would keep her company until the bell rang. She wasn't expecting to find Sasori with her and almost turned around. She hesitated for only a second, but seeing as everyone else was already there or making their way to the Akatsuki's usual hangout spot, Sakura strengthened her resolve and walked straight up to Konan without looking anywhere else.

She could feel _him_ staring at her, but she couldn't look. She couldn't look at him because she didn't know what she would do if she saw him looking at her. She wasn't sure if she would cry, or if she would smile, or even if she would get angry. All this uncertainty was starting to give her a headache.

"Hey, Konan," she greeted with a weak smile.

"Hey, Sakura," the blue haired girl responded. "How was your morning?"

"I-it was okay," Sakura stuttered and stared down at her feet.

"Why so down, Pinky?" Kisame chuckled from behind her, resting his arms on the top of her head.

"How nice of you to know your colors, Kisa-chan," Sakura responded, pulling herself out from under him. Kisame was a frighteningly tall and pale person. His jovial smile turning into a scowl.

"What the hell, Kisame? You gonna let a fucking girl make you look like a damn idiot?" Hidan joked, jabbing the taller male in the side.

"Don't worry, Hida-chan. You got a nickname, too," Sakura winked at the blond.

Hidan froze, his right eye twitching slightly, as Kisame laughed and slapped him on the back.

"Does Tobi have a nickname too, Sakura-chan?" Tobi asked, jumping up and down in front of Sakura in child-like excitement.

"You'll just be Tobi-kun for now," Sakura replied with a warm smile and placed her hand on his shoulder to calm the young Uchiha.

"What about Sasori-senpai? Or Deidara-senpai?" the boy asked, excitement blazing in his eyes.

"Uh, um . . ." Sakura stumbled awkwardly. She was not expecting anyone to bring up Sasori, since they all kind of knew that the two were not technically on speaking terms.

Suddenly, the bell rang, destroying the excitement of the group and saving the pinkette from Tobi. They all split up and headed toward their first block classes. Sakura glanced worriedly at Sasori, keeping close to Konan as the five made their way to their first class.

~(^-^)~

All throughout the day, it seemed like all of their friends were trying to push Sakura and Sasori together.

Tobi, Konan, and Deidara were always making excuses to abandon them, and the others seemed to be avoiding them. It was kind of weird and awkward.

Sakura was nervous to walk alone with her redheaded companion in the hall, and Sasori didn't know what to say when they had been stuck together during class.

It was worse during lunch, when Tobi, Konan, and Deidara had been conveniently called to the office—for suspension of course. Sakura pushed her food around her tray and refused to look up from the fake wood design on the cafeteria tables. Sasori didn't even get lunch. He sat across from the pinkette, not once looking up from his sketchbook as he scribbled nervously across the page. By the time lunch had ended, neither of them had eaten, and they were still too stubborn to say anything.

And now they were in their last class, and neither of them had willingly said anything to each other all day. But they were now sitting next to each other again, and that was progress.

Class went by uneventfully. When it ended, Sakura was slow to back up. It took her a while to realize that she needed to pick up the pace if she didn't want to miss her bus, and with an early shift, that would not be good.

"If you have an early shift, I can give you a ride home," Sasori offered, and she immediately froze.

Sakura knew what this meant. He wanted to talk. But was she ready to talk.

_**Come on, Sakura. You're torturing the guy. Just say yes,**_ Inner blurted. Sakura hadn't heard from the voice in a while, so she decided to trust it, and she slowly nodded in approval.

Sasori sighed, feeling an immense pressure being lifted off his chest. He suddenly felt hope well up inside of him. Maybe, just maybe, this could work.

They were at her house before she knew it, and she was following behind him quietly, trying desperately to fight back the blush that was trying to creep across her face. Her heart was pounding, and there was a lump in her throat. He was right there—so close she could reach out and grab his hand if she had the courage to.

They had reached her door, and she shakily unlocked it and walked over the threshold.

"Would you like to come in for a little while before I leave?" she managed to get out. She still had her back to him, her face was too red to look at him—it was so embarrassing.

The redhead nodded and followed her inside, barely able to keep his own face stoic. She was right there—so close he could reach out and hold her if he had the courage to. He swallowed and followed her to the kitchen where she busied herself in grabbing two sodas and placing them on the table. It felt like an eternity since he had last been over.

Sakura sat down and started tracing the lines in the wood. She refused to look up; she was sure her face was still red.

Sasori finally got the courage to speak up.

"Sakura," he murmured, and she finally look up at him, finally looked him in the eyes. He was finally getting serious.

She could see the remorse, the sadness, the loneliness. She could tell that he felt awful, but she wanted to hear it from him.

"I want to say I'm sorry," he started.

"Then say it," she declared with a shrug.

"I'm being serious, Sakura."

"So am I."

The tension in the room was growing. This was starting to go nowhere fast, and Sasori realized he had to hurry before she completely cut him off.

"Sakura, I'm so sorry," he started over.

"For what?" she snapped. She wasn't going to let this be easy.

"For hurting you. I swear, if I could go back in time and stop myself from doing what I did, I would," he answered. Sakura softened a little bit, but she couldn't, she had to be strong through this. She had to tell him, but she had to see what he felt like first.

Sakura felt her heart softening, but she immediately steeled herself again. She had to be strong through this; if she wasn't then there was no way she could tell him how she really felt.

"Why? Why would my pain matter to you?" she grumbled bitterly.

"Because . . ." Sasori trailed off. He had lost his edge. He couldn't say it.

"Because why? Because it'll help you sleep at night if you apologize and say that you tried to make me feel better? Because you feel the need to "_fix"_ things? Why Sasori?" she blurted angrily, her voice growing louder and louder. She didn't realize when she had stood up. She was letting her anger take over her, and it was making him anger. That anger was just enough to rebuild his confidence though.

Sakura turned to leave—it was obvious that he wasn't going to say anything else—but Sasori grabbed her by her shoulders and forced her into an embrace.

"Because I love you," he forced out angrily, his breathing coming out in rapid huffs. "Because I love you," he repeated softly, his mouth centimeters from her ear. He prayed to whatever god there was out there that she wouldn't reject him.

Sakura was paralyzed with shock. She didn't know how to react. She could feel her face heating up, and she knew her heart was pounding, but she could form no words, and her arms refused to move in order to hug him back.

_H-he loves me?_ were the only words racing through her mind at the moment.

_**Duh! You know you really can be stupid sometimes,**_ Inner declared, tearing her away from her shock.

Sasori started to pull away; she had been quiet for too long, and he was starting to fear the worst. Maybe she didn't love him back? Maybe she didn't like him at all anymore?

The shock of the cold air touching her where he had once been shocked her back into reality. Sakura reached forward and pulled him back into an embrace. God, how she had missed his touch.

"I . . . I don't want you to be mad at me anymore . . . It hurts too much," he confessed. She could hear his heart pounding in his chest.

"You idiot . . ." she muttered, a small laugh escaping her lips. Tears were starting to spill over, and she pulled away and turned around so he couldn't see her trying to wipe them away. But with every swipe, a fresh tear slid past.

There were no more 'maybe's, no more 'I don't know's concerning her feelings toward Sasori. Just knowing that he loved her was enough to make her cry in relief.

Sasori turned her back around. He didn't know why she was crying, but judging by the smile on her lips, he had done something right.

"I can't believe . . . that after all this time . . . I managed to fall in love with a puppet geek," Sakura said between peals of soft laughter.

"Says the pot to the kettle," Sasori chuckled.

He gently lifted her chin and brushed away the rest of her tears. It was pretty cliché, but it felt right to him. There was a moment of silence as they just stared at each other, and then Sasori leaned down and captured her lips in a kiss.

This time, when he pulled away, she was smiling, and that was enough to tell him that things were going to be just fine.

~(^-^)~

"_Did it work?"_ the person asked from the other end of the line.

"Everything worked out perfectly," Konan replied after one last glance at the new couple.

She started the two-block walk down the street to where her car was parked.

"I can't wait until you come back. I miss you," she added softly.

"_I miss you too, Konan. I have to go. My time on the phone is up,"_ the person replied.

"Seriously? It's not like you're in prison," Konan complained, but she knew it was nothing that she could argue about.

"_It feels like it without you,"_ he sighed. _"Bye, Konan, I love you."_

"I love you too, Pein. I'm glad you could help us out," she murmured. The line went dead and finished the rest of the lonely walk to her car.

* * *

><p>Kitty-chan: Well, I hope you liked it. I know I liked rewriting it, but man did I have a lot of mistakes in this story. Anyways, that was the final chapter. I probably won't be adding any more stories any time soon, but I hope you check out the other stories that I currently have up. Please review, you guys. Reviews make me super-duper happy.<p>

~nomorehappykitty~


End file.
